Nut-retainer.



Patented May 16, 1916.

N .Mii

EDWARD A. GR'EN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NUT-RETAINER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

\ Application fuefi May 7, 1914. serial No. 836,849.

T0 all fwwm/z't may concern: n Y

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. GigEEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut-Retainers, of whichthe following is a speciiication.` j

This invention relates to a threaded bolt, its nut and a retainer forthe latter designed to be held against rotary movement on the bolt, andto be relieved of a bearing contact with the nut longitudinally of thebolt shaft.

The principal objects of the invention are to reduce the cost ofmanufacture of Ithis type of retainer, to increase the wrenchingsurfaces of the nut, to obtain a neater and more compact construction,to diminish the quantity of metal that must be removed from the nut forthe purposes of this type of retaineIg/to causethe nut to serve as aguide for the retainer, and to provide 4these improvements withoutreducinofthe strength of the nut below that of the bolt. j e

With the above objects in view the invention consists in the novelconstruction, combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter describedin detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and incorporated inVthe appended claims. e Y. In the drawing-j-Figu're` l is a side View ofa bolt, nut and retainer applied' to two pieces of materialk shown insection. Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a top plan view of bolt, nut and retainer. Fig. 4: is asection taken substantially on line 1i-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the nut, retainer and water-proofing washerseparated.

In the several views 2 represents the bolt, 3 the nut, 4c the retainerand 5` a washer which may Vbe inserted between the nut and the retainer.The work or material to which the nut and bolt are shown applied isdesignated as 6 and 7. The nut may be of usual form and dimensions, andthe retainer is of tubular form. Projecting from the periphery of thelatter-n are preferably two lugs 8 and 9. This retainer is inexpensivelymade from .a rod rolled with a pair of ribs, cut into short lengths andpunched and threaded. One face of the nut 3 is counterbored to form arecess 10 adapted to receive thebody. of the retainer and in` ay flange11 formed by the counterboring, re-

cesses 12 and 13 are cut to receive the lugs 8 and 9.' After the bore ofthe retainer has been threaded the retainer is slightly distorted atpreferably two opposite points in its circumference by pressing thesepoints toward each other. This distortion from a true circle causes thethreads of the retainer and the bolt to bind and hold the retaineragainst rotation relative to the bolt. The retainer should possesssuflicient resiliency to enable it to compensate for wear in the threadsand make it possible to remove and re-apply it without losing itseffectiveness.

The nut and the retainer are threaded together, upon the bolt, theretainer being mounted in the recess 10 and supported laterally by itscircumferential wall in substantial alinement with the bolt opening inthe nut. yIt will be noticed that in counterboring the nut to form therecess 10 none of the wrenching surfaces or outer sides of the nut areremoved beyond the very small portions cut out` inV forming the lugrecesses 12 and 13. The strength of ordinary nut threads isA greaterthan that of the bolt threads. It has been held that the average nut maybe counterbored onehalf the distance of its threaded bore and stillretain a thread strength equal to the strength of the bolt. The retainermay thus `be located partly within the nut without depriving the latterof its required eiiiciency. The recesses 12 and 13 in the nut are sodisposed with respect to the lugs 8 and 9 on the retainer that thelatter will not engage with the threads of the bo-lt so as to force itinto such close contact with the nut or the bottom of the counterbore asto make the retainer bear any appreciable strain imposed upon the nutlongitudinally in the direction of the retainer. It is designed that theonly places of positive or bearing contact between the nut and retainershall be between the lugs 8 and 9 and the side faces of the recesses 12and 13. By reason of these lugs and recesses the nut and retainer mustrotate together upon the bolt threads, but while the distortion of theretainer threads causes them to bind upon the bolt threads withsufficient force to prevent accidental movement of the retainer, itrequires only a slightly greater effort to move the nut and the retainerwith the aid of a wrench applied to the nut than is required to move thenut alone. On the other hand the vibrations which the nut may besubjected to will not cause rotation of the retainer because of the gripwhich the threads of the retainer have upon the bolt threads.l a

In Figs. l, 2 and l a ring or washer 5 is shown interposed between thenut and retainer, and the space between nut and retainer occupied bythis washer may represent a substantially non-contact space, as thiswasher is designed to be made of a s oft or fibrous substance, grease orother plastic material. The object of this washer is to eX- clude watercollected in the recess l0 from reaching the bolt and nut threads fromsaid recess. Ordinarily no washer or such means for excluding moistureis more necessary in connection with this invention than in connectionwith nuts and bolts generally, but in such situations where suchprotection against moisture is desirable the counter-bore l0 affords aconvenient and useful means to that end especially when the spacerepresented by the washer 5 is filled with heavy grease. The spaceserves as a retaining cup and protection for a delicate washer of thekind indicated, or, in other words, the recessed nut and retainercoperate when the washer is used as an efficient stuffing box to theextent needed for the exclusionl of moisture not under pressure.

The greater' compactness obtained by letting part of the retainer intothe nut makes it possible to reduce the length ofthe bolt to thatextent, a not inconsiderable item where large quantities aremanufactured. As already pointed out the conventional nut is madethicker than is necessary to give it the required strength relative tothe bolt, and this simply for the purpose of providing the nut withsufficient wrenching surface. In the present invention most of thisexcess metal is cut away without loss of the usual wrenching surface,and with a gain of the other advantages above referred to.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination, a nut, a retainer threadedon the inside and compressed to distort its threads and cause same togrip the threads of a member to which it is applied, said nut having acounterbored recess in which said retainer is seated and notches, saidretainer having lugs which engage said notches.

2. In combination, a threaded bolt, a nut, and a separate retainerthreaded upon said bolt, said retainer being partly within said nut andtogether with the latterV forming a space adapted to be occupied by apacking, said retainer having distorted threads which engage the threadsof the bolt.

3. In combination, a threaded bolt, a nut having a counterbore in itscrown face and in threaded engagement with said bolt, and a tubularretainer having threaded engagement with said .bolt partly outside andpartly inside of said nut, said retainer having walls of" substantiallyuniform thickness to facilitate its compression, the retainer threadsbeing distorted from a true circle to cause them to bind upon the boltthreads, and engaging means upon said retainer and nut to cause them torotate together.

4. In combination, a bolt, a retainer which has threaded engagement withsaid bolt, a nut free of bearing contact with said retainerlongitudinally of the bolt shaft and interlocked with said retainer, andmeans for preventing the entrance of moisture between adjacent faces ofsaid nutA and retainer.

5. In combination, a nut, a bolt, a retainer having distorted tlireadsthat grip the threads of the bolt, said retainer and nut being separatemembers interlocked rotatably but free of each other longitudinally ofthe bolt shaft, and a packing chamber between said retainer and nut.

6. In combination, a bolt, a counterbored nut, a tubular retainer seatedin the counterbore and having threads relative to the threads of thebolt, means preventing bearing contact between said retainer and nutlongitudinally of the bolt shaft, and an annular chamber in the bottomof said counterbore which spaces apart adjacent faces of nut andretainer.

7. In combination, a threaded bolt, a coimterbored nut threaded uponsaid bolt, a retainer seated at least partly within said nut and havingdistorted threads which grip the,

threads of the bolt, a cushion packing between said retainer and nut,and lugs and recesses on said retainer and nut which engage each otherwhen the nut is rotated but leave the retainer free of the nut in thedirection of their longitudinal axis.

8. In combination, a threaded bolt, a counterbored nut, a retaineroccupying the counterbore save an annular space at the bottom thereofbetween the parallel adjacent faces of retainer and nut, oppositelyextending lugs on said retainer, means upon the nut for rotatablyinterlocking same with said lugs, and threads upon the retainer whichare bent from a true circle against the threads of the bolt.

9. In combination, a threaded bolt, a nut, and a retainer for the nutwhich consists of a tubular threaded member having its threads distortedfrom a true circle, the nut and ithe retainer partly telescoping eachother loosely, and the nut and retainer being providedwith means whichprevent their interengagement longitudinally of the bolt shaft andinterlock said nut and retainer when rotated about said bolt shaft.

10. In combination, a recessed nut, a bolt, and a separate retainerloosely occupying the recess of the nut and providing a chamber betweenthe retainer and the nut adapted to confine a packing substance, theretainer being tubular in form and having its threads 3,3@

equally distorted throughout its entire length by compressing theretainer at two opposite points in its circumference whereby theretainer threads are brought out of line with the bolt threads andcaused to bind on the latter, and means for preventing the nut fromrotating on its threads into a bearing contact with the retainer thattransmits to the retainer the strains imposed upon the nut in adirection longitudinal of the bolt shaft.

11. As an article of manufacture, :a nut having parallel sides foradjustment and removal and being provided upon the crown of the nut witha counterbore, a recessed flange about said bore, a tubular and threadedretainer of resilient material less in thickness than the nut, saidretainer constructed and arranged to engage said liange at substantiallyright angles to the aXis of rotation of the nut, said retainer havingits threads distorted by compression at two opposite points, the threadsof the retainer being so disposed that when the nut and the retainer areapplied to a threaded member the retainer will be spaced from the faceof the nut and in engagement with the flange of the nut, whereby thepressure on the nut will not be transmitted to the retainerlongitudinally of the bolt shaft.

12. As an article of manufacture, a nut having parallel sides foradjustment and removal and having a crown counterbore and a liange aboutsaid bore with oppositely disposed recesses therein, and a threadedretainer substantially oval in cross section and made of resilientmaterial, said retainer being adapted to occupy said counterborewitnesses.

EDWARD A. GREEN. Witnesses:

JOHN P. ANTIsDEL, CARL A. PETERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

